Category: Luxury

French Riviera and the Art of Booking Hotels Online: Nothing Zen! Part 3

Map of the French Riviera

We are taking a couple of days off after five months of 7/7 and 24/24 service to our dear guests. Destination: French Riviera. Just a couple of days on the board of a private swimming pool or a beach. Late breakfast, rest, lunch on the beach, rest, read a book, rest, small dinner, maybe some sightseeing, maybe some boating.
We put our plans for a trip to Copenhagen on the back burner as May, June and July gave us mediocre weather after an unusually hot April.

Where to stay?

First: where not to stay:

Not in Don Cesar, Cap d’ Antibes
We have stayed a couple of times at 4 star Hotel Don Cesar. Nicely located on Cap d’Antibes and near to one of our favorite beaches. However, the last time we stayed there, it proved more and more worn out. It doesn’t particularly look inviting to go back. This observation seems in line with those of Tripavisor reviews.
[Update: after a refurbishment the hotel is now know as Hotel Vogue]
Nor in Domaine Cocagne, Cagne sur Mer
Domaine Cocagne originated from a camping with some holiday apartments. It has Dutch owners and was not so long ago thoroughly and very nicely refurbished under guidance of a well known Dutch Designer, Jan des Bouvries: It has good location, a nice restaurant, nice beds and clean and almost white interior. However the guests that frequent there do not fit with the quietness and rest we are looking for. Especially since I had breakfast there with the pleasure of looking out over the swimming pool with a couple of ladies in a string only already loudly occupying their day beds (afraid as they were the beds would be gone for the day) while their figures would only be flattered by a bathing suit (even a bikini would have looked gross)….This view didn’t go well with the excellent shambled (pardon: scrambled) eggs I had for breakfast. In addition the owner made it very rudely clear to a couple of dear Gay friends of us who planned a stay for 2 or 3 months in the hotel, that he didn’t like gay people. Thirdly we noted a very high alcohol consumption of several hotel guests. These issues make me think twice to go there ever again. Hm they even have no reviews on Tripadvisor for this hotel.

True to my own principle I started browsing some trusted sites with hand picked accommodations.

  • Hotels of the Rich and Famous is easy navigable. Its map is excellent and combined with its listed properties it is quick and easy navigable. Certainly not so cluttered as some other sites. It comes up with: Chateau Eza in Eze (between Beaulieu and Monaco. Definitely a possibility as it is close to Bealieu where we like to visit friends one day and very close to Chateau de La Chèvre d’Or where a dinner or lunch has been on my wish list for quite some time already. It appears Chateau Eza is a Stein Group Hotel which operated the Dylan (formerly Blakes and now up for sale by owner Apollo Group) and The College Hotel, both in Amsterdam. I also didn’t know yet that Chateau de La Chèvre d’Or is a hotel as well. Alas it looks much more stuffy than Eza.
  • Kiwi Collection mentions:
    • Le Mas Candille in Mougins which actually is a bit too far from the beaches,
    • Chateau Eza in Eze (again),
    • Cap Estel Eze, Bord de Mer (down by the sea), even a Kiwi Collection WOW pick, but no availability,
    • Le Mas de Pier in Saint Paul de Vence
    • Villa Belrose, near St Tropez that is a bit far from where we want to stay
    • La Reserve de Beaulieu in Beaulieu, and
    • Le Saint Paul in Saint Paul de Vence

    I very much appreciate the fact that the Kiwi collection gives the urls of all their featured hotels, notwithstanding they do not have maps available on their site

  • Chic Retreats offers:

    Chic retreats could use maps on its site or give the urls of the property. However Lulu herself recently promised me to do the urls soon (she recently had asked the member hotels to provide them, but did get only one reply).

  • XO Private Collection just sent me an invitation by e-mail to join their XO Private Insider. I thought for a moment “Wow am I privileged”, but I now see you can click on it from its Main Page. I still do wonder from where the invitation came. I like the fact that they provide all info in a write up and simply link through to the website of the accommodation itself. It has (in addition to Eza and Cap d’Estel):
  • Luxury Culture suggests:
    • Hotel du Castellet in an old glass factory north of Bandol near Toulon, too far away for our present plans, but worthwhile to remember,
    • Domaine des Andeols North of Apt, an Alain Ducasse property, too far away but also to remember

    The luxury culture flash presentations are really nice to get good impressions of the properties and I would say a better impression than any video as yet could give

  • A fellow hotel blogger, Hotel Blogs 2.0, suggested:
    • Mas Artigny in St Paul de Vence [ed: Noted closed permanently in 2017], or
    • Villa St Maxime, near St Tropez
  • Another travel blogger in the know, Blog on Travel, suggested go to Clos des Arts from the SLH portfolio in Colle Sur Loup.
  • Then a very good friend of us mentioned Hotel Welcome in Villefranche sur mer. Oh I like that location: It is the second Bay west from Monaco and has a lot of shipping movements as it is frequented by mega yachts and by large cruising vessels who can anchor for free during a couple of hours or waiting until their berth in Nice is free to proceed or are seeking a nice location for a hop of for a stroll or a lunch ashore.

The Verdict:
I have split our stay over two hotels: Bastide Mathieu and Hotel Welcome.
Stay tuned for my reviews.
At least for future visits I can rely on this post which will help to save some time…

Last edited by GJE on December 6, 2011 at 7:24 am

Happy Hotelier becomes a Trend Hunter

TrendHunterLogoAd468x60c

I have Trend Hunter Magazine in my Google Reader for some time, and was browsing and searching the site. Accidentally I signed up, because it induces you to look at “unpublished trends” and then you get curious, wouldn’t you? It is free anyway.

After signing up I noticed that at Trend Hunter Magazine you can maintain your own Blog alike page, which they call “Portfolio”. You can use it to comment, they call it “to crave”, posts of other Trend Hunters. You can also submit trends.

So my Portfolio at Trend Hunter is now: Happy Hotelier, Trend Hunter. On that page you see the most recent trends I have submitted. Actually I was quite surprised that the first three trends that I submitted, both from this Blog as from my other blog Chair Blog, were published almost immediately.

If you want to see my “favorites”, then hit Happy Hotelier Favorites. To be precise: the header of the page is the same, but the url is different.

The amazing thing is that the whole site is just a One Man Show: Jeremy Gutsche’s.

If you want to know more about Jeremy, click the Interview with Jeremy Gutsche, Founder of Trend Hunter by Nigel Goodwin.

Each Trend Hunter has his own page. I’m not sure whether you see only trends that were published when you are not logged in on those pages. Each published trend has the respective hunter next to the full post. So when you get used to it, it has nice navigation possibilities.

There are of course plenty of lists of top Trend Hunters: Those with the most published trends, those with the most cravings, those with the most traffic and so on. There is also a community with a “Wall” to write on.

In addition to its main magazine it has several subject related “magazines”.
For me the Hip Hotel Reviews magazine is off course of interest. It has a separate URL as well at Hot Hotel Reviews.

I also noticed that famous international trendy design, interior, fashion and travel magazine cum website Wallpaper* signed up as Walpaper*, Trend Hunter recently. So I believe to be in good company of them and the more than 13.000 Trend Hunters.

Trend Hunter Magazine offers a 50/50 split of revenue from Google Adsence, but I am not very interested in getting paid per click.

All in all Trend Hunter Magazine has a lot of Web 2.0 features: User generated content, syndication, community building…and a Technorati authority of 1,169 and a Technorati rank of 1,898…not bad for a one man Blog, although assisted by 13.000 and something Trend Hunters. The fact that you are able to build a community with 13.000 and something people on your own is amazing in itself.

And thanks Jeremy for the help with my first steps on your platform with a bit idiosyncratic interface!

MarySlim: a Very Slender Vessel as motor yacht

Very Slender Vessel US Marine

Very Slender Vessels are in the first place developped for use by military and special forces.

From Global security I got this information:

In 1999 the Special Boat Squadron, Britain’s marine special forces unit, acquired a VSV (Very Slender Vessel). It can go faster than any other ocean-going fast pursuit vessel in the world. It is capable of speeds of more than 60 knots, is 53 feet long and cylindrical, with a 10 foot cross-section so it can punch straight through waves rather than go through the top of them.

Traditional Deep’V’ hulls have two modes of operation, low speed displacement mode and a high speed planing mode. The VSVâ„¢ hull, by contrast, exhibits no discernible planing ‘hump’. The vessel can maintain any speed within its performance envelope returning full command to the skipper.

When traditional Deep ‘V’ boats travel at speed in rough conditions, they jump from wave to wave and land with high vertical acceleration or ‘g’ force. As the speed of the vessel increases or the sea gets rougher, the ‘g’ force on landing increases. Peak readings regularly exceed 20g which is sufficient to cause injury to the personnel and damage to the vessel and its equipment.

Basically a VSV is a wave piercer. It is not completely novel as designers have been developing slim sharp fronted boats for years that are encouraged to cut through the waves rather than bouncing over them. The VSVâ„¢ applies these principles to high-speed patrol vessels. This has enabled crews to travel at high speeds in adverse sea conditions in relative comfort and safety.

Vosper Thornycroft has its own VT Halmatic VSV, 16 m long:

VT Halmativ VSV 16m

and is developping a 22 m version.

The Motor Boat & Yachting issue of July 2007 features the maiden trip of MarySlim, the first VSV that is built as a motor yacht and gives it a thumbs up especially as to the unexpected smoothness of riding the waves. Cruising speeds of 28 – 35 knots are fabulous in waves without having to re swallow your kidneys!

Here are some photos Copyright Neils Obee from the press release preceding the maiden trip:

MarySlim2
Mary Slim Yacht
MarySlim3
Mary Slim Front View

The second photo shows clearly the difference with fast wave piercing motor yach designs thus far: They all have as a common factor the more or less trimaran form. The VSV has no outrigging parts. It only has very wide chines and a very high length : beam ratio.

See for more information Multi Marine UK.

Very interesting development!

Dutch Prime Minister, Mayors of Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam: Attention please! (America’s Cup post # 15)

https://happyhotelier.com/wp-content/uploads/Americas-Cup.jpg
The 32nd America’s Cup match has ended in a most spectacular victory for Swiss Team Alinghi. This means that the 33rd America’s Cup Match will be held in a European city somewhere in 2009, 2010 or 2011. Valencia is a likely city of venue again, as it has been a 100% success for both parties.

Here I have some facts for you from the official America’s Cup site:

The 32nd America’s Cup in concept and figures:

Spectator attendance

  • Total visitors (including Marseille, Malmoe, Trapani and Valencia): 6.4 million
  • Port America’s Cup: 5.7 million
  • Season 2007 (Louis Vuitton Act 13, Louis Vuitton Cup and America’s Cup Match): 2.8 million
  • One-day record of visitors to Port America’s Cup: 87.547 (Sunday 1 July 2007)

Internet www.americascup.com

  • Visits: 22 million (total since September 2004)
    2007 season: 16.6 million (since April 1st)
    America’s Cup Match: 3.4 million
  • Page views: 105 million (total since September 2004)
    2007 season: 70 million
    AC Match: 13.4 million
  • One-day records:
    Page views: 2 156 222 (26 June)
    Visits: 518 612 (3 July)
    Unique visitors: 337 894 (3 July)
  • Newsletter Subscribers: 40 000

TV (provisional data)

  • Viewers: over 4 000 million (total since 2004)
    2007 season: over 2 700 million
    Broadcast hours: over 4 500 hours (total since 2004)
    2007 season: over 2 500 hours
  • Networks: over 100
    Rights Holders: 36
  • Countries reached: over 150
  • Production: 400 hours and over 33 cameras

Media

  • Press articles: over 100 000
  • Accreditations: over 6 700 (total since 2004)
    2007 season: 3 200
    America’s Cup Match: 1 460
  • Written press: 371
  • Photographers: 183
  • Radio: 49
  • Internet: 30
  • Television: 227 journalists and producers + 600 technical personnel
  • Countries represented: 40
  • Publications: over 600
  • Press releases issued: 1 040 (in four languages)
  • Press conferences organised: 75

Port America’s Cup

  • 1 million square meter development including the Marinas with nearly 650 berths and 12 team bases
  • Spectator boat service: up to 12 boats every racing day with around 1 300 spectators on board
  • Spectator boats: 2 000 boats on the race course (final weekend 30 June-1 July 2007)
  • Marinas occupation: over 1 000 boats (2007 season)
  • One-day record: 450 boats
  • Total number of nights sold: 25.000

If you are not bidding already to become the city of venue, please prepare a bid to be one of the cities on the way to the match itself.

  • Amsterdam has a marina in IJmuiden with enough space in place.
  • The Hague is contemplating what to do with its abandoned harbor front. This could be an excellent boost for the area.
  • Rotterdam has a proven track record with the 2006 Rotterdam Stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race with an in shore race in the historically important waters of the Battle of Ter Heide.

So, please mr. Dutch Prime Minister and Mayors of Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam: I know none of you have much with sailing, let it be sailing races, but please let the world see the Dutch can rule the waves again! Please take this excellent opportunity to promote one of more of these cities (preferably The Hague of course!). But also please act together and not against each other as you did with the plans for the new Dutch National Historic Museum!

And of course I personally would love to have such a venue in my backyard in The Hague:-)

Added July 20, 2007:
I saw in an article in a local paper that at least one political party in the Board of the The Hague City Counsel has the same idea.

Last edited by Happy Hotelier on February 8, 2010 at 10:58 am [wile waiting for AC33 to start]

Boston: Historic Ames Building becomes Ames Hotel

Boston Ames Building
Image of the Boston Globe article
Ames Building Boston Mass
Picture found in Wiki

In a recent article the Boston Globe reports about the plans to give the Ames Building in Boston, once (from 1893 – 1915) Boston’s tallest building except for The Church of the Covenant, a new life as a hotel.
Ehotelier.com also reports about this development from the same source. As the Boston Globe it suggests that the Ames Building will become a boutique hotel. I fear this is over stretching the term boutique hotel a bit with 125 rooms planned.
For the time being the project is christened The Ames Hotel .
The present developer Normandy partners who teamed up with Brit Richard Kilstock and Eamon O’Marah, acquired the property in April 2007 for US $17,7 mio and anticipates a US $ 40 mio redevelopment.
Prior plans to convert this property into a hotel were from former owners Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation and from O’Callaghan Hotels, a Dublin based hotel chain.
Boston based Cambridge Seven Associated, Inc were architects involved in the O’Callaghan plans.
The building itself looks promising as a hotel from the above pictures. I would suggest the developers to have a look at the Vienna Radisson SAS Style hotel which is similar in structure albeit with only 74 rooms a bit smaller and probably more personal.